In a communications technology network, such as the Internet of Things, a terminal device may be in two states, namely, a non-activated (Idle) state and a connected state in a process of communication between the terminal device and an application server. When the terminal device is in the non-activated state, a connection between the terminal device and a network side device is released, but a broadcast message and a paging message are listened to. In the connected state, the terminal device receives all downlink data and can send uplink data.
Generally, power is supplied for terminal devices by using batteries, and how to reduce power consumption of a terminal device that performs communication on a network is a key of whether the terminal device can be widely applied. In the prior art, a terminal device enters, according to a paging message listened to when the terminal device is in a non-activated state, a connected state to receive downlink data. In this way, the terminal device may be constantly switched between the non-activated state and the connected state, which causes relatively large power dissipation of the terminal device and high power consumption.